It is a well-recognized fact in the mechanical arts that a change in a movement of an object requires a force, which may be derived from various energy sources, including natural and manmade energy sources. While natural energy sources (e.g., geothermal heat, or a flowing body of water) typically allow generation of relatively strong forces, natural energy sources are frequently confined to stationary use. In contrast, many man-made energy sources (e.g., combustion) advantageously allow mobility, however, they often require relatively complex configuration to operate efficiently, or at all.
To circumvent at least some of the problems with energy availability or complex configurations, energy may be stored temporarily by deforming or compressing a pliable or compressible material. For example, mechanical energy may be stored in a spring to propel an article. However, especially where relatively high energies are required to accelerate the article, springs may not be practicable. Moreover, when the energy is stored over a longer period, deformation of the spring may occur, thereby reducing the amount of potentially available energy.
In order to avoid loss of energy by deformation of an energized material, an object may be propelled by employing compressed air. A typical configuration for an air propelled flying toy is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,006 to Breslow et al., in which a toy rocket is propelled by compressed air. Breslow's rocket has a launching tube in fluid communication with a flexible bulb. The body of the toy rocket includes a recess that is configured to slide onto the launching tube, and the rocket is launched by compressing air in the flexible bulb, thereby forcing the rocket from the launcher. Breslow's rocket is relatively simple, however, the energy delivered to the rocket is limited to the force applied to the flexible bulb.
To increase the available amount of energy, Allport teaches in U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,764, a toy rocket launcher assembly in which a flexible hose is manually pressurized to a desired degree. The hose is pneumatically connected to an air valve, which in turn is connected to a launching tube. Allport's launcher advantageously allows launching of the toy rocket with a relatively higher force, but requires additional moving parts that may be prone to leakage or jamming. Furthermore, even if a relatively high pressure is produced in the flexible hose, a relatively large amount of the compressed air (i.e. energy) will be wasted by blowing off the launching tube after the rocket has already left the launcher.
Although various devices to propel an object are known in the art, all or almost all of them suffer from one or more disadvantages. Therefore, there is a need to provide improved methods and apparatus for devices to propel an object.